Ultimate Defeat
by Nagem
Summary: DISCONTINUED. After the events in ToS, Desians began to collect Exspheres in an attempt to regain their power over humans, throwing Lloyd and the others back into action.


First things first. THIS FIC CONTAINS SPOILERS!!! Don't read if you haven't finished the game!!

This is my first ToS fic, so be nice. If some of my facts are wrong, for one reason or another, please let me know in a polite review (flames will be ignored)

Oh, and I'm sorry about the lines took away my lines meant to separate one part of the fic from another) but it shouldn't be too confusing, as long as you're paying attention.

I think that's all. Please review!!

-Nagem

Lloyd grabbed Colette's hand and proceeded to drag the girl through the marketplace of Palmacosta-or rather, what was _supposed _to be Palmacosta after the giant tree had ripped through it. Now the remains of the city had turned into a camp of some sort, with some people, who Lloyd recognized as former citizens, trying to rebuild it, and others, shady-looking people who were selling various and dangerous things. Lloyd's eyes wandered over the stalls, searching for things that might be Exspheres, or just something useful.

"Lloyd, look! Over there!" Colette pointed wildly to one of the stalls a few feet away from the one Lloyd was observing. "Isn't that an exsphere?"

The swordsman's eyes drifted over to where Colette indicated. "Yeah," he said after a few moments. "I think you're right." Adjusting his twin swords so that they were clearly visible to the shady merchant behind the stall, Lloyd strode over, and reached for the Exsphere, saying, "This looks interesting. How much-Argh!"

His hand had been stopped by the merchant's. "I'm sorry, young man," said merchant wheezed in a scratchy voice. "But that's already been purchased. I apologize for leaving it out."

"Perhaps I can offer you a better deal?" Lloyd asked, trying not to sigh. He had done this countless times-he wondered if the merchants rooted through the remains of the destroyed Desian ranches and picked up the Exspheres there. "I have quite a bit of gald, if that's what you'd like."

"I doubt it." The merchant's eyes drifted down the row of stalls, and lit up. "There you are!" He released Lloyd and grabbed the Exsphere from the table. "You must know I cannot hold merchandise for long, this young man was about to offer me quite a good deal!" He continued babbling as he set the jewel in the hands of a robed figure, who glared at Lloyd and stalked off.

"Lloyd? Lloyd!" Colette shook her friend's arm as the swordsman stared after the retreated figure. "What happened?"

"You know what?" Lloyd asked, and Colette looked at him expectantly. He hated what he was about to say. "I don't know, Colette."

"Regal?"

The ex-convict glanced up from where he was looking over plans for one of the new houses in Ozette. "Presea, what's wrong?" The pink-haired girl had been periodically materializing in Ozette with lumber for the past three hours, and this was the first time she had spoken to Regal all day. A frown played across her face as she looked up at her blue-haired companion.

"Several of the volunteers have gone missing," Presea said slowly. She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "The ones who brought the Exspheres from Meltokio to use until construction was done."

Regal raised an eyebrow at the information. "The ones who brought the Exspheres. . . . " He trailed off in thought. A group of people, most of who had been a part of the Papal Knights before the Pope had been overthrown, had brought hordes of the strength-enhancing jewels, claiming to want to help rebuild the towns that had been destroyed. After a long talk with Lloyd, Regal had been allowed to use the Exspheres to amplify his worker's strengths, as long as he promised to destroy the jewels as soon as the workers were done with them. "Are the Exspheres still here?" He couldn't imagine what Lloyd would do if he lost them.

"I checked, and they appear to be there," Presea responded. "But I am worried."

"All right, set up a watch schedule-the Exspheres are not to be left unattended at any time, day or night," Regal commanded, then his eyes travelled down to the top of Presea's head, and reconsidered. "Or would you rather I did that?"

"You should, I'm still somewhat disliked by the former villagers," Presea mumbled, hanging her head. It was true-when she had tried to oversee the rebuilding, hardly anyone who had lived in the village before had listened to her-they had even shunned her-and rumors had seemed to be going around. Even now, many avoided her. "That's all I wanted to say."

"How the hell did this happen?"

Sheena stared at Zelos, rage apparent on her face. The red-haired, former Chosen of Tethe'alla stood at her door, grinning and waving one gloved hand. He looked happy to see her. She, on the other hand, could think of more pleasant things.

"What's the matter, Sheena?" Zelos asked, still grinning.

"Hello, Zelos!! Mizuho is supposed to be a _hidden _village," Sheena said, making sure to put extra emphasis on the "hidden" part. When the former Chosen didn't respond, she sighed and continued. "You know, _hidden, _as in you're not supposed to be able to find it."

"Ah, but Sheena, my beautiful hunny, you forget that it was I who found this place for you," Zelos replied, his voice smooth. Sheena winced. She _had _dismissed that thought, in hopes that she wouldn't feel that she owed Zelos-no matter how many times he insisted that she didn't-but here he was, bringing it back up again.

"All right, _fine,_" Sheena grumbled. "But if you're here to terrorize me _or _the women of this village, you're going to be kicked out of here."

"Ah, but my lovely Sheena, why would I ever do such a thing?" Zelos asked as his hand went for her butt.

"PERVERT!!" With a hard smack from Sheena, Zelos' face became aquainted with the wood of the nearby table. "All right! You're outta here!"

"No, no, no!!" Zelos said, covering Sheena's mouth with his hand before she could shout. "Listen, there really was something I wanted to talk to you about! Now, if you'll just let me-ouch!"

Sheena bit his hand, and he yanked it from her mouth. "So what is it you wanted to talk to me about so badly?"

"I just wanted you to know-things have gotten odd lately," Zelos said. "I don't know if you've seen any, being a _hidden _village and all, but there have been a lot of hooded guys wandering around Meltokio." He paused, nursing his hand, and then continued as he felt Sheena's gaze on him. "I don't know what they're looking for-no one has bothered to ask them since they murdered one of the royal guards."  
"They _what?" _Sheena demanded. "They murdered a guard? Are they out of their minds?"

"I don't know," Zelos said, backing away from Sheena with his hands in front of his face in self-defense. "All I know is that one guard went to question them and the guy flat-out killed him. In broad daylight, too."

"Are they all a part of the same group, do you think?" Sheena asked, unnerved by this point.

"I dunno, but I came to see if you had heard anything," Zelos said. "I thought that that kind of news might have reached Mizuho by now, hidden as it might be."

"It hasn't," Sheena replied. "I haven't heard anything strange, but I'll keep my eyes open."

Genis stirred the stew before bringing a spoonful up to his lips to taste it. He paused for a moment, spoon hovering, as he regarded the flavor, then turned to the person sitting across the fire from him.

"Here, Raine, taste this," he said sticking the spoon out to his older sister, who looked up from the book she was reading. "It tastes all right to me, but I don't know if I've got the right seasonings in here. . . . "

"I'm sure it's _fine, _Genis," Raine replied, tasting the mixture anyway. She licked her lips, nodded, and went back to the book.

"Well?"

"It's fine. And don't make so much," Raine said. "It's not as if you're cooking for eight people anymore. Don't waste the food." Genis began to stir the stew again, somewhat put-out by his sister's words. He couldn't tell if she was cranky, or just jealous that Genis could make something that she couldn't. He sighed and removed the pot from above the fire, letting the stew cool a moment before dishing it out into two bowls.

He noted, with a hint of annoyance, that there was still quite a bit left in the pot. "Here, Raine," he said, handing the dish to her. She took it, not even looking up from her book. Genis sighed, and took his own portion a ways away. If Lloyd and the others were still there, at least he would have someone to talk to-over half the time, Raine had her nose in a book, and the other half she was too tired or cranky to have a decent conversation with.

"Genis, don't wander too far off," Raine called from the fire.

"I won't," Genis replied, feeling as if he were a young child. Sometimes he was touched by his sister's concern, and sometimes he hated that she treated him like he couldn't take care of himself. "I'm much more capable of that than Lloyd." He smirked at the thought, then frowned and jumped to his feet, upsetting his bowl and spilling stew as he felt someone's eyes on him. He looked around, and then spotted something in the trees. "Fireball!"

"Genis!" Raine was torn away from her reading at her brother's sudden use of magic. "What's going on?" There was a yell, and Raine saw a robed and hooded figure hit the ground a few feet away from her brother. Genis fell into a defensive pose as the figure charged at him. Raine's eyes narrowed. "Oh no you don't. Photon!" Light flooded the campsite, and the figure was thrown away.

"Thanks, sis," Genis gasped, running over to her.

"Genis, did you sense it?"

"What?"

"That person," Raine said, obviously troubled. "He was a half-elf."

"_What?_" Genis demanded. "No way!" He looked at his sister as she checked him for possible wounds. "Why would a half-elf attack _us?_ We're half-elves, too!" He paused, not sure his sister was listening as she asked him if he hurt anywhere. "Sis, I'm fine. You can listen to me now."

"Perhaps he was a Desian," Raine said. "That knew of Mithos' plan, and knew that we stopped it, and wanted to get revenge."

"You're reading way too much into this, Raine."

"No, I'm not," the older half-elf replied. "Tell me, did he see your Exsphere?" Both looked to Genis' hand, where the Exsphere that Lloyd had let Genis keep was embedded. "He did, didn't he? When you fell into that defensive stance, your hands went up, and he saw it. Then he charged."

"Well, yeah," Genis said, uncertian. "I saw his eyes go to my Exsphere, but that doesn't mean it's the reason he charged at me!"

"What other reason do we have?"

"None."

"Exactly." Raine looked about, searching the trees for any more people that might be hiding there. "This isn't good. We're in the middle of nowhere. Genis, be on your guard."

"A-all right."

"Hiyah!" Lloyd blinked, staring at the slime he had just cut through. "Heh. That was easy!" He sheathed his swords and continued on, his destination in sight-the ruins of the Palmacosta Human Ranch.

Lloyd had left early that morning, leaving a note to the sleeping Colette and riding Noishe through the semi-familiar territory. He hated to leave Colette alone with all the shady people about in Palmacosta, but he figured some of the citizens who knew her would do some job of keeping her out of trouble.

_Either way, I'm gonna hurry, _he thought, calling Noishe, who had been scared off when the slimes had attacked. Swinging one leg over the protozoan, Lloyd glared at the ruins of the human ranch ahead of him. _I don't know why I'm going here, or what I hope to find, but whatever it is, I hope it has nothing to do with this bad feeling I'm getting. _Noishe stopped a few yards away from the ruins, and Lloyd slid off, striding forward.

"What's wrong, Noishe?" Lloyd asked, looking back over his shoulder. "Are there monsters around?" Noishe let out a whine, and Lloyd shrugged, continuing forward until he was in front of what used to be the main gate of the ranch. Pushing rusted metal out of his way, the swordsman explored, looking behind non-functioning magitechnology and doors turned onto their sides. "Wow, the professor really did a number on this place."

"He has an Exsphere!"

_What the-? _Lloyd's head shot up and his hands grabbed for his swords as he heard the voice. _Who wants my Exsphere? _He looked down at his hand, at the gem that would be destroyed when Lloyd had finished his quest. Genis still had his, too, Lloyd remembered absently, once again looking for the source of the voice.

"He has one! Come on! Let's get it!"

"Are you nuts? That's the boy who _beat _the Five Grand Cardinals!! We don't stand a chance!"

_Desians? _Lloyd thought, wildly. _No, it can't be. We took all the Desians down, didn't we? _He looked up at a tower that had somehow remained standing, and was now leaning over to one side, threatening to fall at any moment, and thought he saw a flurry of movement.

"He's spotted us!"

"This sucks! Where's the spellcaster?"

_They _are_ Desians! _Lloyd thought, his swords jumping from their scabbards into his hands. He ran for the tower, intending to cut it down and expose the Desians, but he never got that far.

"Stalagmite!"

"Got 'im!"

_Damn! _Lloyd found himself being thrown into the air by a familiar spell. He floated for a second, and believed the spell had stopped. _Hang on, every time Genis used it, there was one more-argh! _A single spire of earth stabbed the swordsman in the back, sending him higher, blood spurting from his mouth. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

". . . yd. . . . "

". . . oyd. . . . "

"Lloyd!"

Lloyd's eyes snapped open. It was dark, and he could just barely make out a female figure hunched over him. He groaned as pain washed over him-how had he gotten here? Last thing he could remember was leaving a note to Colette telling he would be at the Palmacosta Human Ranch site. . . .

"Colette!" He shot into a sitting position, and regretted it as the pain made it hard to breathe.

"Lloyd! I'm right here!" There was a crackling, and the female figure was thrown into light by the torch she held. Colette's blue eyes stared into Lloyd, concerned and frightened. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Lloyd gasped, lying back down. "What happened?"

"I woke up and there was a note on your bed saying that you had gone to the old ranch," Colette said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I went after you, and by the time I got there, you were on the ground bleeding." She began to cry. "It's a good thing I had some gels with me, or I don't think you would be alive right now!" She sobbed, biting her lip as Lloyd regarded her with guilt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Colette," he said, reaching up and brushing away a tear. "I didn't mean to worry you, there was just something I had to check out." He couldn't remember what it was at the moment, but he knew that _something _had brought him here and then left him nearly dead on the ground. "Really, I'm sorry."

"I-it's all right," Colette replied, wiping her face and trying to stop her tears. "I was just worried about you."

"I'm fine now," Lloyd said, although his head spun and vision darkened when he stumbled to his feet. "Okay, so I'm not. But I can rest better back in Palmacosta rather than here."

"Lloyd, are you sure you should be moving?" Colette shrieked, jumping to her feet, intending to force Lloyd to lie back down.

Lloyd shook her off. "Let's get back to Palmacosta. Noishe should be able to get us there pretty quick." That said, Lloyd looked around, searching for his friend. "Noishe?"

"He came back to Palmacosta," Colette said. "That's why I came looking for you. I left him there."

"Ah, great," Lloyd murmured. "Come on, Colette, let's go."

"I'm sorry, Lloyd!" Colette said, following Lloyd as he headed back toward the city. "I knew I shouldn't have left him there! I'm sorry! Why are you still so mad?"

_I'm not mad at you, Colette, _Lloyd thought, still walking. He dared not speak his thoughts, lest they come out in the wrong words because of his anger. _I'm pissed 'cause I can't remember why the hell I came here._

"Presea. . . . " Regal trailed off, watching as two men laid the foundations for one of the houses in Ozette. The pink-haired girl turned to him, a question gleaming in her eyes, asking him what was the matter. "I feel . . . uneasy."

"As do I," Presea replied. "What do you believe is troubling us?"

"I don't know," Regal muttered. "I feel as if something has been left undone, but Mithos has been defeated, and most of the cities are rebuilt, correct?" He looked down to Presea, who seemed deep in thought.

"What about . . . Palmacosta, was it called?" Presea asked. "That city by the sea?"

"Yes, Palmacosta." Regal looked thoughtful. "But I've heard that it was being rebuilt by old citizens and other volunteers."

"We can still offer our services there, can we not?" Presea countered. "Surely there must be something they require assisstance with." She looked up at him-it wasn't as if she wanted to go to Palmacosta specifically, but she wanted to get out off Ozette, to go somewhere where no one would avoid her because of what had happened to her.

"I suppose you're right." Regal gave in. Perhaps it was the nagging feeling that something wasn't finished that made him want to get out of here, he wasn't sure, but he had consented to Presea's request all the same.

"That is the _last _time I let you play with one of those teleportation pads, no matter _how _deactivated it seems!"

"Hush, Genis. I'm trying to figure out where we are."

The young mage threw his hands up into the air. "'Don't play with it,' I say, but noooooo, you have to go and fiddle with it to see if it still works! Well, it did, sis, and look where it got us!"

"Genis. . . . " There was a warning tone in Raine's voice.

"We have no idea where the hell we are, with half our supplies left wherever the hell we _were _with no way to get back to them, not to mention I had the leftovers of last night's soup in that bag! What do ya have to say for yourself, Raine?"

WHACK

"Owiee," Genis moaned, putting one hand to his head.

"Now stop complaining and help me out!" Raine demanded, thrusting the new map of the joined Sylvarant and Tethe'alla in front of her brother. "Where are all the possible places we could have landed?"

"Raine! Genis!" Both looked up, startled as a male figure came running toward them. Raine jumped up to support Neil of Palmacosta as he came into view, out of breath and about to collapse.

"Easy now," Raine coaxed, letting him down into a sitting position.

"There were reports of something going on over here, so I came to investage," Neil explained before either half-elf could ask. "And then I found you guys!" He finished his short tale with a triumphant grin.

"What kind of reports?" Genis asked.

Neil's face melted into a frown. "That's the problem, I'm afraid. I've been looking for you two for quite a while." Both half-elves looked at him, waiting for an explanation. "I think you had better come with me to Palmacosta."


End file.
